**3. Goat milk quality and cheese varieties**

Goat breeding is an important livestock branch, and great attention is paid to its development and industrialization in all Mediterranean countries. The composition of milk is of great importance for determining the technological properties of goat milk and for its further processing in a suitable type of cheese. According to the historiographic data, the golden period of the Macedonian livestock breeding was in the middle of the nineteenth century, when there were about 7–9 million sheep and 2 million goats in Macedonia's borders [8].

With the adoption of the Law on Goat Breeding in 1989, the goat again began to take its place in our livestock breeding. Today's situation of goat is heterogeneous, given the fact that the individual producers preserve 1–2 goats, but there are also those who breeds 20–30 goats, while the organized goat farms have 100 or more heads. It is estimated that in our country, there are under 100,000 goats with a major participation in the domestic Balkan goat and in a smaller proportion the Saanen, Alpine, and their half-bred [6].

Accordingly, the milk used for the production of cheese should be of a normal chemical composition in accordance with the rulebook on requirements for the quality of raw milk, quality standards for consumer milk, dairy products and the use of their names, quality and activity of starter cultures, curdling and other specific substances, and the manner of their use, the manner of additional labeling of milk and dairy products, as well as the permitted deviation of weight in relation to the declared [15]. Goat milk is often mixed with the cow or sheep's milk and as such is offered to the dairies so that its nutritional values are not properly valuated. A certain part is processed by farmers in white goat cheese, but due to its specific taste and smell, it consumes a certain number of the population, although it has higher nutritional and therapeutic values compared with other cheeses. Goat breeding has a good perspective, given the good natural conditions, but also because of the fact that goat milk is given greater importance nowadays, especially because of its dietary and nutritional properties.

The quantities of individual ingredients affect the technological characteristics of the curd, as well as the organoleptics and the quality of the finished product [16]. The physical-chemical characteristics of the used milk for the production of the white-brined goat cheese was 3.44 ± 0.10 g/100 g for protein, 3.00 ± 0.24 g/100 g for fat, 11.99 ± 0.17 g/100 g for total solid, and 4.79 ± 0.09 g/100 g for lactose; the total microbiological counts were 5.49 ± 2.119103 log cfu/mL, and the milk total somatic cell numbers were 85 ± 0.109103 cell/mL [10]. The pH of the milk was 6.60. From the obtained analysis, the raw goat milk fulfill the conditions according to the book of rules for hygienic criteria and milk quality [15, 17]. Given that the composition of milk is highly variable and depends on numerous genetic and paragenetic factors, its comparison shows great differences with the findings of other authors (**Table 1**).

Kashkaval, white-brined, and beaten cheese are the three main types of cheeses produced presently in Macedonia. The origin of beaten cheese is from the territory of Mariovo, produced in the past years on the pasture land only from ewe's milk. According to its salty taste and its hard consistency, it is an authentic product with characteristics that is preserved even in usual situations. The production of cheese


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*Goat Cheese Quality in North Macedonia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84545*

terms of physical water added.

the process of ripening and storage.

the brine [20–22].

has been carried out since the time of the Ottoman Empire. The "beaten" designation is originated from the one process step of the cheese production where the

Cilev et al. [5] investigated the chemical composition of goat milk on three farms during the month of April, and the highest percentage of milk fat is determined in milk from a farm in Kožle (3.85%), and the lowest percentage in milk is from a farm in Ajvatovci (3.50%). In terms of protein content, the highest percentage (3.70%) is determined to a farm in Taor, and the lowest is in the farm in Ajvatovci (3.05%). The content of lactose was highest in the farm in Ajvatovci (4.71%), while the lowest is from a farm in Taor (4.43%). The highest content of fat-free dry matter was found on the farm will be displayed (8.69%), while the lowest farm is Taor (8.26%). The total dry matter in milk was also highest in the farm will be displayed (12.42%) and the lowest farm is Taor (11.85%). In terms of the content of added water, the result charter in April in all three farms was zero, which indicated its full functionality in

Brined cheeses are with high salt content, which enables their preservation even

in the warm periods of the year. They are produced from sheep, goat, and buffalo milk, as well as from their combinations. During the ripening, changes in the composition and properties of the cheeses are mutually dependent on changes in

In the last few years, the increased interest of the goat's milk products on the marketplace and the scientific community is consistent with the general trend and efforts for the production of healthy food, since the goat's milk has been well-known for its beneficial effects on human health [23]. According to statistics in 2011, whitebrined cheeses are consumed in quantities of 7.4 kg per year, followed by 2.2 kg kashkaval cheese and urda (ricotta) with 2.1 kg by member of households [24]. Sulejmani [25] reported that white-brined cheeses have a high salt content that allows them to stay in the warm periods of the year. They are produced from sheep, goats, buffalo milk, and their combinations. In the ripening, changes in the composition and properties of the cheeses are mutually dependent on changes in the brine. Most varieties in this group are stored in closed containers, but some are stored in gas-permeable containers, which affect biochemical changes that occur in

The milk for beaten cheese manufacture is drained through cheesecloth (not obligatory) and poured into a curdling vessel. The curdling is most often done using enzymatic rennet with the strength of 1:5000 or the rennet chymosin CHY-MAX (2080 imcv/g) at the temperature of the milk of 25–35°C. In the past, for curdling homemade rennet was used obtained from the lamb's stomach. The curdling process lasts 30–50 min. After that the curd is submitted to processing (churning or beating) using a wooden tool. The process of churning (beating) is done in 3 series of 50 strokes (150 strokes in total), and after each series, the curd is left to "rest" for 5–10 min. In this process it may come to separation of a part of the milk fat, in which case the fat is skimmed and removed from the vessel. When the beating process ends, the curdled mass is warmed up by adding warm water to the temperature of 53–90°C, depending on the particular manner of production [27] (**Figure 1**). Recently consumers are more aware about the relationship between their eating habits and nutritional status. Consequently, they look for foods that are added with natural products rather than synthetic chemical compounds. Currently, they have interest in maintaining good health and an excellent body figure; therefore, they have become more careful in the food they choose to consume, looking for food with a high nutritional value, bioactive compounds, and antioxidant capacity, such as herbs, fruits, and vegetables. This is an opportunity for some local producers to manufacture cheese products with the partial or total replacement of

cheese curd is beaten to ensure proper draining (**Figure 4**) [18, 19].
